Eagles-Commanders history: Playoff results, all-time record ahead of NFC Championship Game
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The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles will meet up in this upcoming weekend’s NFC Championship game, with a trip to Super Bowl LIX on the line.
Meeting one of these teams at the Caesars Superdome in downtown New Orleans will be either the historic 3-peat chacing Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills. A ton of internet ink will be spilled about either of those Super Bowl matchups, but for now, the NFC Championship game between these two franchises that date back to 1932 (Washington) and 1933 (Philadelphia) will pack more than enough punch to cover ad nauseam.
Eagles-Commanders is a big game, without a doubt. Any championship game is, of course, but these are two NFC East teams going against each other for the right to play in the Super Bowl. It will give you chills if you think about it enough.
Rivalries in the NFC East are deep and heated, and that can be said for just about any rendition of them. The Dallas Cowboys normally seem to be at the center of it — as they were once “America’s team,” and they still are most NFL fan’s favorite team to watch lose — but there’s certainly plenty of history between the Eagles and Commanders as well.
We’re talking about two of the four original members of the NFC East, after all. The New Orleans Saints were the fourth in the original edition of the NFC East, but ever since then, it has been the Cowboys, Eagles, Commanders, the New York Giants, and (randomly) the St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (from 1970 to 2001).
No, the NFC East hasn’t always stuck to proximity, but there’s certainly close proximity between the Eagles and Commanders, which has led to plenty of heated matchups between the two franchises. The Eagles, of course, play in Philadelphia, while the Commanders — who represent Washington D.C — actually play in Landover, Maryland.
There are 133 miles between those two locations, which is just over a two-hour drive (not including the wild East Coast traffic). So yes, these two franchises have seen each other a lot, and they may even run into each other in passing — their fanbases certainly do.
As far as the history of this game between the Commanders and Eagles, it goes all the way back to October 21st, 1934, when the Boston Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 6-0. The Redskins won four of the first six matchups with the Eagles, but the first time fans saw a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins was in 1937, when the Eagles won 14-0.
This rivalry remained between the Eagles and Redskins until 2020, when the Redskins were rebranded as the Washington Football team. Philly won both games against the Washington Football team, and they also won their first matchup with the Washington Commanders. That was a 24-8 win in September of 2022 that saw Jalen Hurts throw for 340 yards and three touchdowns, with 169 of those yards and two touchdowns going to DeVonta Smith.
The Eagles and Commanders split their games this season, with Philly winning 26-18 in November and the Commanders winning 36-33 just before Christmas. Notably, both home teams won, and this NFC Championship game will be in the Philadelphia Sports Complex in South Philly.
Though the Eagles have been much better as of late, Washington actually owns the all-time series, 90-85-5.
The last time these two franchises met in the playoffs was in the 1991 NFC Wild Card round. That was a game that Washington won, 20-6. Randall Cunningham was the quarterback for the Eagles, while Mark Rypien was the quarterback for Washington.
That game was the only time these two teams have met in the playoffs, so this upcoming NFC Championship game is going to be rare, and special.
Saquon Barkley is the Eagles X-factor
Running back Saquon Barkley is the engine that keeps this Eagles offense running, and the wild thing is he seems to be getting better and better as the playoffs go on. He rushed for 119 yards against the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card and followed that up with 205 yards and two touchdowns in the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Commanders are giving up 151 yards per game on the ground in the playoffs, so Barkley coming up next to the plate could be bad news for them.
Zach Ertz is the Commanders X-factor
Tight end Zach Ertz has been in the NFL since 2013, and he knows the Eagles well. In fact, they selected him with the 35th pick in that year’s draft and he had three Pro Bowl seasons in a row for the Eagles from 2017 to 2019.
Ertz is now a wily old veteran, but he’s played an extremely important role as a safety valve and consistent target for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Ertz caught 66 passes for 654 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season, and he caught a touchdown in the Commanders’ upset over the Detroit Lions.
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